


Duality

by OkaySky



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Bisexual Adrien Agreste, F/M, Gender Related, Gender or Sex Swap, M/M, don't worry folks i'm nonbinary and will be handling this respectfully, genderfluid-Mari, or at least trying to
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-29
Updated: 2016-03-19
Packaged: 2018-05-24 00:24:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 12,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6135173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OkaySky/pseuds/OkaySky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ladybug and Chat Noir are being pulled towards each other, but the struggles of being a superhero whose gender changes when they transform is causing some confusion.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The view from the top of the Eiffel Tower was arguably one of the greatest perks of being a Miraculous holder, Ladybug mused, swinging her legs freely in the empty space high above the ground. The millions of twinkling lights of the city at night lit up the picturesque Paris, and the quiet murmur of the civilians going about their evening routines, combined to create an air of tranquility that nothing short of an akuma could have broken.

“Nice night tonight,” Chat Noir’s voice called quietly from somewhere behind the seated girl. She raised one red hand in greeting without turning her gaze from the sight of the city. The boy dropped down beside her, jostling his thigh against hers. Ladybug scooted to the side to give him more room, eliciting a small groan from Chat Noir, which she pretended not to hear. In an effort to narrow the space between them, Chat placed one hand behind her and leaned closer, resting his cheek against her shoulder. Ladybug smirked to herself and reached up to lightly run her fingers through his hair. The boy purred into her touch, his cheek gliding across her shoulder as he rubbed his face on her like a housecat

“Did you want to patrol tonight?” Chat murmured, “Or is this just a sightseeing expedition?” Ladybug laughed lightly and tapped the end of his nose with one finger.

“I was just waiting for you, Kitty. Let’s get going.” She gently shrugged him off her shoulder and rose to her feet, her partner reluctantly following as she yoyo’d away.

The patrol was peaceful, allowing Ladybug to enjoy the thrill of vaulting over roof ridges and swinging freely between buildings without a care in the world. Chat leaped after her, the calm night drawing exhilarated laughs from his throat. Soon they were both laughing as they hurried across the cityscape, their relaxed pace morphing into a competitive race.

Shooting Ladybug a glance that could only be described as an unspoken dare, Chat Noir pushed off with all of his might from the edge of a building, sailing across a gap that seemed much too far to make. Not looking to be outdone, Ladybug followed with a  _ zip _ of her yoyo. 

“No fair!” Chat Noir grumbled from where he hung, arms scrabbling on the roof and legs dangling. It really had been too long of a jump, Ladybug thought. He should’ve known better. She crouched in front of him, arms folded across her knees, but made no move to help the boy up. She smiled widely at him, and he pouted in return. Suddenly a devilish grin appeared on his face as his boots got purchase on the wall below him, and he lunged himself up and over the edge, knocking Ladybug onto her back as he propelled himself atop her.

Ladybug wrenched her eyes shut as her head lightly smacked against the roof, and when she opened them it was to find Chat’s emerald eyes just inches away from her own. A blush reddened her cheeks even as she tilted her face away from his, eyes skittering away from his intense gaze.

Chat Noir’s breath hitched in his throat at the sight of her exposed neck, an identical blush tinging his face. “Uh, sorry, My Lady,” he muttered as he pushed himself farther upright and farther away from her uncomfortable expression.

“It’s alright, Chat, no harm done,” she replied good-naturedly. He paused, still hovering over her, at the relaxed tone of her voice. Was this okay? She hadn’t yet pushed him off her, and she didn’t seem mad. She glanced up at him to see why he wasn’t moving, and froze at the way his eyes were trained on her, like she was a bird trapped between his paws. She swallowed, and his eyes tracked the movement of her throat.

“Chat?” she breathed out nervously, drawing her bottom lip in between her teeth. His eyes zeroed in on the movement and his face slowly ducked closer to her, intense gaze locked on her lips. Ladybug’s heart hammered in her chest as she realized what he was doing.

“It’s really late and I should probably be getting home,” she said a little too loudly, squirming up and away from her partner. He shook his head lightly to clear it of the haze that had filled his mind, his tongue struggling to form a reply even as she rose to her feet and began to run away and across the rooftops. 

“Ladybug, wait!” he called after her retreating form, but she pretended not to hear him as she hurried back to her home, eyes glistening and bottom lip held firmly between her teeth.

As she lighted down on her balcony, Ladybug released her transformation and Tikki emerged, like a cork from a bottle, from the Miraculous. The little red kwami rounded on her charge, large eyes filled with concern, and whispered, “Marin, what’s wrong?”

A choked sob, much deeper than Ladybug’s girlish voice, ripped from the untransformed teen’s throat. Tikki placed her tiny hands on her charge’s cheeks as tears began to spill down them.

“He was too close,” the Miraculous-bearer sobbed. “He wants to be closer to me so badly, but he can’t. He doesn't know anything about me.”

“He knows your personality,” Tikki soothed. “If you want to let him be closer, you should! Your personality is the real you, not the name of the person behind the mask.”

“That’s just it, Tikki,” came the whispered reply. “It’s not just the name that matters. I doubt Chat Noir would still be interested if he knew that his Ladybug was actually a boy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't stop thinking about this au;;; somebody spray me with a water bottle or something


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess this kind of takes place during the Le Gamer episode, but with the lack of continuity in the series as a whole so far, I'm just going to go ahead and choose just the part leading up to Marinette beating Max to call canon for right now. 
> 
> I'm so sorry this is so lame lmao just trying to establish Marin's personality a little bit since he is a little different than his female counterpart.

Alya was waiting on the steps of the school the next morning, bent over her phone. Marin made his way towards her, hands clenching and unclenching the strap of his messenger bag. His eyes were still a little puffy from crying the night before, and he knew he couldn’t hide it from the trained eye of his journalistic friend. Alya glanced up as she noticed her best friend’s arrival, a smile gracing her face until their eyes met, and then her expression fell. She quickly pocketed her phone and stepped closer to the boy, one hand fluttering at his cheek as she assessed the damage. Marin smiled weakly at her mother-hen-like behaviors.

“Whose butt do I have to kick?” Alya said after a moment, the corner of her mouth pulling up in a half-smile. Marin giggled and shooed her hand away from his cheek.

“It’s nothing,” he assured her. “I had a rough evening is all.”

“Bullshit,” Alya replied sweetly. “My Marin doesn’t just have ‘rough evenings.’ Who hurt you, sweetheart?” she pressed, throwing an arm around Marin’s narrow shoulders. 

“Really, it’s nothing! Just normal teenage angst-type stuff,” he said, but put his arm around her waist and escorted her up the steps of the building. He couldn’t exactly explain to her that his “rough evening” had been caused by insecurity about his body due to a certain black cat only being interested in him when he had the curves of a blossoming young woman. Eager to shift her mind away from the topic, he pulled a fire-colored knit beanie out of his bag and showed it to her. 

“I started crocheting yesterday,” he announced. Alya took the beanie from his hands and slipped it over her wild mane, admiring the stitches as she did. “Damn, boy, you learn fast! This is nice!” she complimented. He smiled back and gave a short curtsy in thanks, earning a laugh from his best friend. The two stepped into the classroom and made their way to their seats.

“I haven’t really had much time to actually sew anything lately,” Marin admitted with a sigh. “Patterning and pinning can’t really just be dropped whenever my parents need help in the bakery, or whatever else needs my attention.” Like akumas, or a certain leather-clad teenaged boy. “But this crochet pattern is just one repeated stitch, so if I have to set it down I can come back whenever I want to.”

“Well, I, for one, think that you’re excellent at it already,” Alya said with a grin, running an appreciative hand over the beanie still resting on her head. She ran a hand over it and posed, saying, “Love the colors too. Tell me, how do I look?”

“It looks just how I thought it would,” Marin said. “I knew those colors would look great on you.” Alya brought a hand to her chest, a wide beam splitting her face.

“No way! You totally made this for me, didn’t you?” she laughed, reaching one arm around his shoulders to hug him. He grinned and blushed lightly but shrugged nonchalantly. Alya pressed a quick kiss to his cheek and then pulled away to admire the hat in the camera app of her phone.

Marin’s attention was drawn to the arrival of the two boys that sat in the bench in front of him. He felt his heart leap to his throat as he made eye contact with Adrien, who smiled angelically and waved a greeting at him. Marin smiled back dumbly and waved back. Alya watched the exchange with a fox-like smile, elbowing Marin and raising her eyebrows suggestively as the two boys slid into their bench. Marin elbowed her back, pretending that his face wasn’t the color of a tomato.

“Marin, congrats again on winning the Ultimate Mecha Strike III pre-lims,” Adrien said, swiveling in his seat to address the dark-haired boy.

“Yeah, dude, it was totally awesome!” Nino gushed. “I didn’t even know you were into video games.”

Marin blushed even redder, if possible, and gestured vaguely as he stammered out, “Ah, well, I just like to dad with play, I-I mean play with my dad.”

“I’m looking forward to beating the competition alongside you,” Adrien said, leaning in closer to Marin and placing a hand on the edge of his desk. Alya giggled as steam practically poured from Marin’s ears. She motioned as though to fan him and he kicked her under the table.

“Oh, uh, yeah! We’re g-gonna win for sure with you on our team,” Marin mumbled out. Adrien scoffed and shook his head, captivating Marin with the delicate toss of his honey-colored locks.

“You got the high-score in the pre-lims,” the model reminded him. “I’m lucky to be your back-up, if anything.”

Marin floundered, unintelligible noises coming out of his mouth as his brain short-circuited at the compliment. Alya clamped a hand onto his shoulder, cutting Marin off sharply. “Maybe you guys should get together and practice,” she suggested. “That way you’ll work even better together.”

Adrien’s smiled widened. “That’s a great idea! We can definitely win the competition if we know each other’s play style.”

“Are you free today after school?” Alya asked, leaning forward in her chair and sliding her hand up to Marin’s mouth as the shy boy began to squeak in protest. “You could go over to Marin’s house and practice together.”

“It’s Friday, too,” Nino supplied. “You could ask your dad if you could spend the night, and then you can practice as long as you want.”

“Um, only if it’s okay with you!” Marin squeaked out from behind Alya’s hand. The blond boy raised a quizzical eyebrow at the strange position the two were in, but grinned anyways.

“I just need to check with Natalie and make sure I don’t have anything scheduled,” he assured them. “It sounds fun.”

“Sounds like a date, then,” Alya replied in a voice that sounded far too suggestive for what the conversation entailed. Marin shot Alya a glare and his tongue darted out of his mouth to lick her palm in retribution for the teasing remark. She yanked her hand away with a yelp and stuck her tongue out at him. 

Before any further shenanigans could break out between the two trouble-making friends, the homeroom teacher pushed open the classroom door, already anouncing the first assignment of the day. Alya shot Marin a look that said,  _ You’re welcome for the set-up _ , to which he replied with an angelic smile and a swift kick under the table. Alya dodged it easily and turned her attention to the teacher. 

Adrien glanced over his shoulder at Marin and smiled. Marin’s eyes flew wide and he smiled back nervously. His mind dissolved into a puddle of mush, repeating the phrase,  _ Adrien smiled at me _ , over and over in his head, effectively drowning out the sounds of the lesson.

It was going to be a long day.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for being patient with me, guys! I don't have any more exams for almost a month now, and we have internet in my apartment again, so I should be able to update this fic with more regularity.
> 
> Enjoy!!

The final bell rang out over the school, and the anxiety that had been laying low in Marin’s stomach all day suddenly reared up and filled the entire cavity of his lower abdomen. It pressed against his lungs and made it hard to breath, and also pressed against his bladder unexpectedly. He shot up out of his chair and bolted for the door with a, “I’ll meet you guys outside,” before any of his friends had a chance to ask him where he was going in such a rush.

The dark-haired boy shot down the stairs and slid around the corner to the bathroom, throwing himself inside a stall and leaning his head against the door. Tikki emerged from inside his cardigan and sat on his left shoulder.

“I don’t know if I can do this,” Marin whispered to the little red kwami. She beamed up at him and lightly patted his cheek.

“You don’t need to be so nervous, Marin,” she soothed. “You and Adrien have been sitting together for a long time now. I think he would even call you a friend! You can relax and be yourself around him.”

“It’s a little harder than you think to even speak around him,” the boy quipped back. “I can hardly get one sentence out around him, much less hold a conversation. And if he’s staying at my house overnight-- Oh, god, Tikki, he’s gonna be sleeping in my  _ house _ !”

“You’ve had friends stay over before,” Tikki reminded him. “And I’m sure you’ll calm down the more time you spend one-on-one with him.”

“I don’t think you’re understanding me,” Marin said slowly, taking his kwami in his hands and looking straight into her eyes. He enunciated slowly to make sure she wouldn’t mishear him. “I have a crush on him, Tikki. I’ve never had a crush on anyone like this before, not someone I could actually talk to. When he’s close to me, my brain stops working. And it’s worse when there’s nobody else around to keep the conversation going.”

“If you have a crush on him, then wouldn’t you want to get closer to him?” Tikki countered. “Getting to know him and getting comfortable talking to him are the first steps in maybe getting him to notice you in a more-than-friends kind of way!”

Marin chuckled darkly at that and shook his head, eyes moving to his shoes. “It’s just a one-sided crush. He’s probably not even into dudes. I mean, when he talks about  _ Ladybug _ sometimes I think maybe he’s interested in her, so he’s probably straight.”

Tikki smiled gently and floated out of his palms to gently kiss his nose. “But Marin, you  _ are _ Ladybug! Sure, you may not be a girl all the time, but that has never stopped true love before!”

Marin smiled and gently stroked the little kwami. “It’s just a crush, Tikki,” he reminded her bitterly. “No one ever said anything about true love.”

“Marin?” a familiar voice called as the bathroom door creaked open. A shrill squeak escaped the dark-haired boy, and he clamped his hands over his mouth. That was Adrien’s voice. Tikki gave his cheek another swift kiss before disappearing back into the folds of his cardigan.

“Uh, yeah, I-I’m in here,” Marin called back in what he hoped was a calm voice. The sound of Adrien’s footfalls coming closer to the stall made Marin’s heart beat louder with each step.

“I talked to Natalie and she cleared me to hang out at your place today,” the model said from the other side of the door. “I know it wasn’t your suggestion, but if you’ll have me, I’d love to stay over tonight, too.”

Marin’s head hit the coat-hanger on the back of the door with a sharp smack as he jumped in shock. Adrien had just said the word  _ love _ to him. Even if it wasn’t what the blond had meant, just hearing him say the word was sending the shorter boy’s mind into a meltdown.

“You okay?” Adrien laughed. Marin opened the stall door, hoping his face wasn’t too red, and replied as calmly as he could, “Ah, yeah, just hit my head.” Adrien smiled at that and followed as Marin made his way to the sink and washed his hands, despite the fact that he hadn’t actually used the toilet. Had to keep up appearances, of course.

“And, um,” Marin mumbled as he turned off the water and busied himself with drying his hands, “I’d be okay with you spending the night. I just need to check with my parents, and they’ll probably be okay with it.” With his face turned away from Adrien’s like this, he found it surprisingly easy to say what he meant on the first try. Maybe it was Adrien’s beautiful emerald eyes, or his dazzling smile, that distracted Marin so completely from acting like a normal human being.

“Awesome!” Adrien replied. “I should probably swing by my house to grab a change of clothes or something.”

“You can borrow some of mine if you want,” Marin suggested, feeling suddenly bold at the realization that he was able to function if he just kept the object of his affections out of his line of sight.

“Works for me,” Adrien accepted pleasantly, following Marin as he made his way back to the now-empty classroom to collect his bag. The two walked through the empty halls of the school in comfortable silence, Marin not knowing quite what to say and Adrien perfectly content to just walk together. As they exited the school, they found Alya and Nino sitting on the front steps, faces a little closer than what should be acceptable in just casual friendly conversation. Marin blushed at the thought that they might have been kissing in public just moments before their friends had walked out on them. Alya glanced over her shoulder at him and winked, confirming his suspicions.

“Hey, guys!” Nino greeted them. “Took you long enough.”

“Marin had to get his bag from the classroom,” Adrien explained. 

“So what’s the plan?” Alya questioned, rising to her feet. “Are we hanging out today?”

“I think we’re going to go to Marin’s and practice for the tournament,” Adrien replied, slinging his arm over the raven-haired boy’s shoulder. Marin stiffened at the unexpected contact and felt his face warming. Alya grinned at him encouragingly.

“Well, we’ll leave you to it then,” Alya said quickly, grabbing Nino’s hand and tugging him down the steps. “C’mon, Nino, let’s go to my place and watch a movie.” The bespectacled boy waved goodbye over his shoulder as he was dragged down the block, unable to do more than throw a farewell in the direction of the two boys standing at the top of the steps.

“Well, shall we?” Adrien suggested, his hand sliding from Marin’s shoulder to his back as he led the shorter boy down the steps. Marin could only smile and nod, his mind entirely focused on the tingling sensation in his spine from where he could feel Adrien’s fingers ghosting over him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm lame af and drew some art for my own fic, check that shit out: http://okay-sky.tumblr.com/post/140838897286/ive-been-thinking-about-my-fic-duality-a-lot


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had some free time in between classes today so here's another chapter. Things should start getting a little more plot-heavy in the next chapter. And by plot-heavy I mean "let the sinning begin."

Marin thanked his lucky spots that the bakery his family ran was just across the street from their school, as it gave him virtually no opportunity to embarrass himself. Within moments he was pushing open the front door, the bell on the doorframe alerting his mother to his arrival. The small Chinese woman turned at the sound and a warm smile lit up her face at the sight of her son with a friend.

“Hello, Mama,” Marin greeted as he approached the counter. Sabine reached up to cup his cheek, and her son obligingly bent down to allow her to kiss his cheek.

“Welcome home, mon petit,” she replied. Her blue eyes flickered to Adrien and she said, “Ah, you must be Adrien! Marin has spoken of you before.”

Adrien’s eyes lit up in surprise. Although he would definitely say Marin was his friend - his first real friend after Chloé - the shorter boy always seemed hesitant to hang out with him, and he was delighted to hear that Marin apparently considered him highly enough to tell his family about the blond. 

“Yes, I’m Adrien,” he introduced himself with a magazine-worthy smile. “It’s very nice to meet you.” Sabine brought her hand to her mouth to hide her grin and said quietly to Marin, “So polite!”

“We’ll be upstairs,” Marin explained. “We have to practice for the Mecha Strike competition.”

“That’s my boy!” Tom called from the other room where he was undoubtedly baking something. 

“I didn’t know you’d even tried out,” Sabine added. “I suppose you two are the winning pair, then?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Adrien replied sweetly. “It was going to be myself and Max, and then Marin showed up at the last minute and blew everyone else out of the water! He has the highest score of everyone that tried out.” He put his hand lightly on Marin’s shoulder as he complimented him, and Marin smiled down at his shoes as his ears grew hot.

“How nice of you to say, Adrien,” Sabine said approvingly. She gave Marin a meaningful smile and added, “You two seem awfully close. I’m surprised my son hasn’t brought you over sooner. He talks about you all the time, after all.”

Marin blushed and grabbed Adrien’s arm, pulling his friend past the bakery counter before Sabine could say anything else to incriminate him. Adrien didn’t need to know that he spoke quite readily about his crush around his parents. The blond bid the amused couple goodbye as he was dragged away, wondering what Sabine had meant by that last statement. He hadn’t thought Marin was fond enough of Adrien to tell his parents about him.

Marin stilled on the second-floor landing as he suddenly recalled the state of his room. Numerous photos of Adrien dotted the walls, and his computer background was even a hand-edited collage of his favorite photos of the model. There was no way he could let Adrien see it.

“Just wait here for a moment,” Marin instructed in a rush, directing Adrien to the living room couch. “I hadn’t expected to have anyone over today and my room is a bit of a mess,” he explained to the wall, knowing that if he looked at Adrien some sort of confession would come tumbling out in a mess.

“Of course, take your time!” Adrien assured him, settling onto the white couch and throwing his arms over the back of it. “I’ll be here.”

Marin hurried up the steps and closed the trapdoor behind him, leaping to the wall to carefully un-pin the many magazine cutouts of Adrien and stash them in his locking diary box. He navigated his computer to the appearance customization settings and reset the background to something more innocuous. After a moment of deliberation, he settled on an image of fall leaves. That was normal enough, right? He turned away from the computer and gave the room a quick once-over, determined that there was nothing else on the walls or elsewhere that would let Adrien know the extent of his infatuation with the boy, and then descended the stairs back to the living room.

He was shocked to find Adrien sprawled out on the couch, his usual orange trainers kicked off and his chin propped up on a pillow. He glanced up from his phone and smiled in greeting.

“So where are we doing this?” he asked, sitting upright and sliding his phone back into his pocket. “Here, or your room?”

Marin was thrown off-guard by the casual state of the usually prim and proper model, but after a quick shake of his head he relaxed enough to reply, “Either is fine, although we’ll probably get more privacy in my room.”

“Let’s go to your room, then,” Adrien suggested, hopping up from the couch. “Then we won’t be bothering your family, either.”

“Oh, they probably won’t even come upstairs from the bakery,” Marin laughed nervously as he lead the way up the stairs.

“The more floors between us the better,” Adrien replied with a chuckle. “I get a little, ah, loud when I’m losing.” 

Marin’s eyebrows raised slightly at that remark as he pushed the trapdoor open. He couldn’t picture Adrien losing his cool over something like a video game. Even in handling Chloé’s bratty antics he never raised his voice or showed aggression. He was almost looking forward to seeing an outburst from the boy, just to see what true frustration looked like on that angelic face.

Adrien poked his head through the trapdoor curiously, his eyes roaming over Marin’s room. Everything was dark pink and red, and despite the relatively small size of the room, the high ceiling and open windows kept it from feeling too cramped. His eyes appreciatively took in the dress form next to Marin’s desk that had some green fabric draped across it, wondering what exactly it would become.

“Make yourself at home,” Marin called over his shoulder as leaned over his desk, opening the game application and hooking up controllers to the computer tower. Adrien glanced around in search of a seat, and eventually decided to move the chaise from where it sat by the window. He gently pulled it across the carpet so it was within reaching distance of the computer and plopped down on it, pulling his legs up onto the lounge and crossing them. When Marin had reached the main menu of the game, he glanced behind him to find Adrien, and squeaked in surprise at their proximity. Adrien smirked a very Chat-like grin at him, pleased with himself for having been able to move the seat without Marin even noticing. He patted the chaise beside him and reached forward to grab the second-player controller. When Marin didn’t move from where he stood, Adrien grabbed his waist and pulled him down onto the lounge.

“Come on, let’s start the game!” he urged, bouncing up and down eagerly. Marin kept his very red face pointed straight at the computer screen, knowing full well that if he looked at Adrien after being touched so intimately, he would melt right onto the floor. He wordlessly pressed the start button on his controller and their training began.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As requested, this chapter is more than twice as long as usual! I'd like to try and make future chapters longer like this too, I really enjoyed torturing my boys this time around. (ʘ‿ʘ)
> 
> I wrote this entire chapter alternating between listening to Can't Sleep Love and I Can't Help Falling in Love With You... So it ended up being a little sappier than I was expecting lmao but I'm sure nobody's complaining right?

To say that Adrien Agreste was "loud when losing" would be a massive understatement, Marin quickly discovered. 

The first co-op match that the two played ended in victory. Marin glanced sideways at Adrien as the blond’s character delivered the finishing combo, and noted that his eyes were narrowed in concentration and his tongue poked out of the corner of his mouth. It was an expression that was so out of alignment with Marin’s perfect perceptions of him, Marin could’ve completely ignored the victory announcement and just stared openly... if Adrien hadn’t let out a victorious whoop and raised his hand for a fist bump. Marin’s face split into a grin as he nervously brought his hand up to lightly tap his partner’s knuckles.

The second match didn’t go quite so well. Adrien let out an angry hiss of air from between his teeth as his character was pummeled into a knock-out, leaving Marin to fend for himself. Marin giggled softly as Adrien pouted, the muscles of his jaw working as he ground his teeth together. The dark-haired boy was able to bring their team to victory, and Adrien congratulated him on the underdog win with a hearty slap on the back. Marin glanced up at him and noted that although his mouth smiled for Marin, his eyes looked disappointed. As the game announced they were moving to the third round, Adrien gripped his controller tightly in both hands and his tongue darted out of his mouth again like a cat caught in the middle of a bath.

In the third match, Adrien’s self-control began to crumble as he was once again destroyed before his partner. His legs uncrossed and his feet settled on the floor, his right leg bouncing with nervous energy as he eagerly awaited the end of the round so he could leap back into the fray. A low hum built up in the back of his throat and he gnawed at his bottom lip. As Marin once again secured a victory for their team, he placed one hand on Adrien’s furiously bouncing knee to try and calm him down. Adrien ceased his anxious twitching and grinned apologetically at Marin, scrubbing a hand across the back of his neck. Marin raised an eyebrow at him but didn’t comment on his increasingly wound-up state.

In the fourth match, Adrien’s facade completely crumbled. He was halfway through what should have been a finishing combo when the enemy suddenly parried and launched his character across the screen. A shriek of frustration tore from between his clenched teeth and he suddenly rose up halfway, only to leap back onto the chaise with his feet under him. He crouched on the edge of the seat, his entire body vibrating with emotion as shouts that were half insults and half animal sounds spit from his gaping jaw. Marin was so surprised by the sudden outburst that he forgot to control his own character, and could only stare at Adrien in shock as the glaring boy’s fingers flew across the controller. He was completely lost in shouting at the screen and paid his stoney companion no mind until he had successful ground the opponent into the dirt. As the victory screen rose to cover the screen his face smoothed out into a cheerful smile and his legs relaxed, plopping his behind back onto the chaise. Marin felt like he had whiplash from watching how quickly Adrien had made a complete 180.

“I didn’t think we were going to make it that time,” Adrien chuckled cheerfully, raising his hand for a fist bump. Marin could only stare at him, and after a few heartbeats Adrien’s smile faltered and he lowered his hand. His cheeks darkened in a blush as he seemed to realize how bizarrely he had just acted. He brought his hand to his face in embarrassment and turned his face away.

“Uh, sorry about that,” he apologized with chagrin. “I’m not really used to playing video games in front of anybody.” He hesitated as the silence between the two dragged on, and when he glanced over to gauge Marin’s reaction, he was surprised to find the smaller boy with his hand plastered over his mouth, his cheeks red and his eyebrows drawn together. He leaned closer to Marin in alarm, concern crossing his features as he opened his mouth to ask if Marin was okay, and was quickly interrupted as the dark-haired boy burst out into furious giggles.

Adrien quickly joined in on his laughter, the blush in Marin’s cheeks receding as Adrien’s flared. 

Marin hadn’t expected that Adrien had such an unruly side to him. He had never pictured the sweet and polite boy being anything other than, well, sweet and polite, and seeing him practically yowling at the computer had completely unraveled whatever perfect image he had crafted of Adrien. He was overcome with the revelation that Adrien was just another teenaged boy, goofy and silly and awkward just as much as he was the picture of a perfect gentleman.

Adrien hadn’t expected that Marin would react in such a, for lack of a better understanding of the situation, positive way. When he had seen Marin’s bizarre reaction to his outburst, he had thought he had just destroyed any chance of a closer friendship between the two. He had pictured Marin being disappointed, or weirded out, but the way that the giggles were practically ripping themselves from Marin’s mouth even as his hands fought to keep them in was an immense relief. 

Adrien also hadn’t expected how their shared laughing fit would suddenly change the way the smaller boy would act around him.

As Marin finally got his laughter under control, he raised one hand to grasp Adrien’s shoulder, the other pressed flat to his chest as he regained his composure. He smiled up at Adrien and said in a voice still tinged with laughter, “Sorry, I just didn’t think you meant  _ that loud _ .”

* * *

 

By the time that Sabine was calling up for the two boys to come down for dinner, Marin had almost completely relaxed around Adrien. After his initial surprise at discovering Adrien’s wilder side, he found that it was a lot easier to talk to him without stuttering, panicking, or having any other embarrassing reactions to his crush’s proximity. 

He noticed that Adrien was also relaxing a bit more around him. The blond had never been particularly shy about invading others’ personal space, but he seemed to be doing it unconsciously now. As Marin set his controller down and stood from the chaise, Adrien followed him closely. So closely, in fact, that his hand brushed against Marin’s side with each stride and his knee was in danger of bumping into Marin’s thigh. The close proximity was a little harder to ignore when his attention wasn’t focused mostly on something else, like a computer screen. 

There wasn’t quite enough room at the kitchen island for all four people to eat, so Sabine had prepared something for the boys to take upstairs with them. Marin pecked her fondly on the cheek as he picked up a plate and loaded food onto it. Adrien watched him closely, following his example in figuring out how he was expected to serve himself.

“Maman, would it be alright for Adrien to stay over tonight?” Marin asked his mother as he poured two glasses of water. Sabine exchanged a glance with Tom and they both nodded in agreement before she replied, “Of course, mon petit.”

“Thank you so much for your hospitality,” Adrien sincerely said to the couple as he picked up his full plate. Sabine smiled kindly at him and leaned her head into Tom, who put his arm around his wife and reached out with the other to lightly place his large hand on Adrien’s shoulder.

“Anytime, son,” Tom assured him. “You’re more than welcome here.”

Marin blushed at his parents and shot them an appreciative glance as he ushered Adrien back to the stairs. The two boys retreated back up into the attic-turned-bedroom and settled back onto the chaise, Marin clearing room on the desk for them to set their drinks. Adrien crossed his legs and nestled his plate between his knees. Marin sat beside him, mirroring his position so the two could face each other. 

“Your parents are amazing,” Adrien complimented through a mouthful of homemade cheese bread. He swallowed before continuing, “They make such amazing food for the bakery and still have time to put such delicious food together for us… And they love you so much, too. They’re so kind and--” He stopped suddenly, his eyes dropping down to his plate.

Marin’s eyes followed the tug of Adrien’s mouth as it fought not to frown. Hesitantly, unsure if he was overstepping his boundaries, the dark-haired boy reached forward to place his hand over Adrien’s and rubbed his thumb soothingly across his wrist. Adrien twisted his hand beneath Marin’s grasp to clasp Marin’s much smaller fingers in his own. He didn’t say anything else, using his free hand to grab more food. Marin copied him, and the two ate in silence for a few moments, his hand growing warm in Adrien’s. Slowly Adrien’s thumb began to glide back and forth across his knuckles.

Marin’s hand stiffened under Adrien’s ministrations and Adrien quickly released it, a blush coloring his cheeks. “Ah, sorry, reflex or something,” Adrien apologized, his newly freed hand rubbing at the back of his head and his cheeks darkening.

“Um, no, it’s fine,” Marin mumbled back, twisting the fingers of both hands together in his lap. “I was j-just startled is all.” Ah, and the stutter returned. He mentally cursed himself and forced his tongue to get back under control.

“I don’t want to make you uncomfortable,” Adrien replied quickly, gesturing at the way that Marin’s hands were all but buried in his lap. “I’ve been told I need to respect personal space before, you don’t need to hold back if you have any complaints.” He smiled widely at that statement encouragingly. He didn’t want Marin to feel like he had to lie to him or be needlessly uncomfortable.

“No complaints here,” Marin said before his head could process what he’d just said. His startled eyes met Adrien’s, and the blond half-chuckled, half-coughed into a fist. He seemed to deliberate for a moment, and then held his hand out towards Marin.

“If you don’t mind, it’s… comforting,” Adrien murmured, his eyes on his plate so he wouldn’t pressure Marin with his piercing gaze that seemed to intimidate the smaller boy. The half-Chinese boy deliberated for a moment, trying to deduce the repercussions of accepting that hand. Of course, since Adrien was offering to hold his hand, then that meant he wanted to, right? He wouldn’t find it weird for Marin to take his hand? And he couldn’t just turn him down after he admitted that it was a comfort.

Marin reached forward and placed his hand into Adrien’s much larger one. His eyes watched with fascination as Adrien’s long fingers - he suddenly recalled that the blond played piano - curled around his own with as much grace as he imagined they would have gliding across piano keys. Adrien settled their intertwined hands on his knee and returned to his meal, a small smile on his face. Marin bashfully finished his meal, cheeks ablaze and a permanent smile plastered across his face that was making it quite difficult for him to actually get food into his mouth.

When they had finished their meal, Adrien released Marin’s hand to allow the dark-haired boy to gather up their dirty dishes and bring them downstairs to the kitchen. His parents watched him from the couch and he dutifully ignored them, allowing his red face to do the talking for him. He hurried back upstairs before they could ask him how the evening was going.

Adrien was sprawled out on the chaise, fiddling with the ring he always wore on his right hand. He glanced up as Marin closed the trapdoor behind himself but made no move to make space for Marin on the chaise. 

Marin stood beside him, staring down at the completely occupied lounge with one eyebrow arched upwards. Adrien shrugged and scooted to the side, leaving a length-wise space for him where he would be unable to sit, but if he laid down he would probably fit. Pretending that he wasn’t entirely delighted at the idea of laying beside Adrien on the narrow lounge, he lowered himself onto the edge of it, unsure of how to proceed without jostling the model right off the edge. Adrien let out an amused huff and reached forward to wrap one arm around Marin’s waist, tugging the boy against his chest. Marin let out a shocked squeak and let himself be thrown around like a ragdoll as Adrien readjusted himself behind Marin. Once he was comfortable, one arm under Marin’s torso and the other thrown over his waist, he reached for his controller. 

Marin tried not to completely lose his mind at the thought that he was practically  _ spooning with Adrien freaking Agreste _ , forcing his hands to take his controller in his hands and restart the game. His mind never quite made it all the way to the game, too distracted by the heat of Adrien’s chest pressing into his back.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long time between updates, guys! I work weekends and keeping up with a regular updating schedule is a bit of a challenge. However, my spring break starts this weekend, so I hope to get a chance to write a lot for you guys next week <3
> 
> Also I'm sorry in advance for this; please forgive me for this self-indulgent fluff, we get some more plot next chapter I promise!

It was almost 10 pm when Sabine opened the trap door in Marin’s bedroom floor with a creak. Her son jumped where he lay nestled against Adrien’s chest, but the blond seemed unembarrassed by their intimate position. The two boys looked over at the small Chinese woman, Marin’s face blossoming into a blush and a pleasant smile on Adrien’s. Sabine couldn’t help but smile back, pleased at how comfortable the two looked.

“W-what is it, maman?” Marin managed to stammer out. She chuckled softly at her son’s flustered state but did her best not to embarrass him any further.

“It’s getting late, boys,” she said. “I know it’s the weekend, but you’re both still growing so you need your rest.”

Marin’s eyes flickered to the computer screen, dragging the mouse down to the taskbar to display the time. His eyes raised in surprise. He had barely noticed the passing of the hours, lost in the bliss of being encircled in Adrien’s arms just playing video games.

“Yes, ma’am,” Adrien replied to sabine, sitting upright and bringing the smaller half-Chinese boy with him. Marin jumped to his feet, eager to put some space between the two of them until his face could return to a normal hue. He glanced back at the trap door and found it shut, his mother thankfully giving them some space. He let out a sigh of relief that she would no longer be his audience. The more eyes were on him, the more clumsy and awkward he was sure to be.

“Where would you like me to sleep?” Adrien asked politely as he removed his white button-up and placed it atop his schoolbag. Marin pondered for a moment, unsure what the appropriate place would be. When Alya spent the night, she often slept in Marin’s bed, the purely platonic nature of their relationship preventing either from feeling awkward about the situation. Adrien was another story entirely. Though they were both guys, and thus it should be acceptable for them to share a bed, the feelings that stirred in Marin for the blond made him hesitant about sharing his bed. 

“You can sleep on the chaise, or the couch downstairs, or we can make up a pallet for you, or you could just share my bed,” Marin rattled off quickly, slipping in the option that he was both anticipating and dreading at the end just in case. If Adrien was comfortable with it then it would be fine, right?

“I’ve never had a real sleepover before,” the blond admitted with a chuckle as he pulled his black t-shirt over his head, missing the small squeak of surprise that escaped Marin’s mouth at the action. “I mean I’ve spent the night at Nino’s once or twice, but we always just end up falling asleep on the floor in front of the tv.” 

Marin didn’t respond, too distracted by the sight of Adrien removing his jeans. He half-turned away both to give the model some privacy and to open his dresser drawer that held his pajamas. He fished around for something appropriate for the blond to wear, his eyes trained on the jumbled mass of colored fabrics without really seeing them.

“Oh, do you usually wear pajamas to bed?” Adrien asked from directly behind him. Marin jumped a little and spun on his heel, suddenly much too close to Adrien’s face. The blond wasn’t looking at him though, his eyes fixed on something in the drawer with one raised eyebrow and a small smirk.

“Y-yes, sometimes,” Marin managed. “It gets cold up here some nights.” 

Adrien reached past Marin, the action pulling him forward and pressing his bare chest to the smaller boy’s. Marin felt like he was about to self-destruct, and the feeling only increased as Adrien straightened with a pair of hot pink short shorts held in his hands.

“I’m wearing these,” Adrien exclaimed, holding the shorts out at arm's’ length and grinning widely at them. Marin covered his face in embarrassment as Adrien promptly stepped into them, peeking through his hands to sneak a peek at the model, suddenly realizing that he hadn’t been wearing anything except for a tight pair of black boxer-briefs during this exchange. His adam’s apple bobbed nervously at the sight of Adrien sliding his shorts up his long legs.

Adrien snapped the waistband of the shorts against his hips, laughing delightedly at the tiny pink shorts, so small that his underwear peeked out of the bottom a little bit. He twisted at the waist, examining his appearance and snickering gleefully.

“I forgot I owned those,” Marin moaned into his hands by way of explanation. It was a lie, of course; they were the most comfortable sleep-pants he owned, and he adored their bright color. 

“How do I look?” Adrien teased, lightly tugging Marin’s hand away from his face and striking a pose. Marin’s eyes were immediately drawn to the sharp curve Adrien’s lower back as he had his hip popped out, and then down to his-- 

Marin tugged his eyes away, blushing down to roots of his raven hair. Adrien laughed and removed the shorts with a laughing, “Sorry, that was probably too much.” When Marin managed to look back at him, he saw that Adrien’s cheeks were lightly dusted with pink too.

Adrien folded the pink shorts and lightly deposited them back in the drawer, feeling embarrassed at himself. Marin still seemed a little uncomfortable around him, and it had probably been a bit too much to tease him about his wardrobe like that. Not to mention the way that Marin’s face had turned bright red as he had looked over the model, something glimmering in his blue eyes that sent a sharp stab through his chest and caused his heart to speed up a bit. He had no explanation for his suddenly very loud heart, or the warmth in his cheeks.

“We never settled where you’re sleeping,” Marin reminded him as he pulled off his own shirt, his back turned to Adrien. The blond considered his options, drawn to the idea of sharing a bed with a friend - something he hadn’t done since before his mother’s disappearance - but not wanting to make the smaller boy uncomfortable. Going out on a limb, he voiced his thoughts and was surprised when Marin nodded, stepping out of his own jeans. Adrien was surprised to discover that Marin wore red boxer-briefs with black spots, an obvious homage to Ladybug. He hadn’t pegged the half-Chinese boy as being a fan of the superhero.

“My bed’s plenty big enough if you want to try it,” Marin mumbled nervously, his heart pounding in his throat. 

“Let’s do that then!” Adrien decided cheerfully, clapping Marin on the shoulder. The sudden skin-to-skin contact of the two nearly-naked boys sent a small shiver through both of them, and Marin glanced over his shoulder to make eye contact with Adrien. The taller boy was momentarily mesmerized by Marin’s sapphire eyes, wide open with equally wide pupils, noticing dimly that Marin had exceptionally long eyelashes. Those long lashes slowly danced through the air as Marin blinked slowly, and Adrien felt his stomach drop.

Then Marin turned away and the electricity flowing through Adrien’s hand suddenly diminished. He pulled his hand away quickly, confusion making its way into his head. What had just happened?

“We have extra toothbrushes and stuff in the bathroom,” Marin announced after a few beats of silence. Right. Pre-bed hygiene rituals sure were important. Adrien followed Marin into the bathroom, mimicking the shorter boy’s routine with only half his mind. The other half was focused on studying Marin’s body, suddenly more exposed than he had ever seen it. His eyes were trained on the sharp line of Marin’s collarbone and throat as he brushed his teeth, hardly noticing the foam of his toothpaste making its way down to his hand.

“Are you normally this messy?” Marin teased, turning on the sink and rinsing off his brush. Adrien startled out of his almost predatory stare, hurrying to clean himself up.

“Too tired to pay attention I guess,” the blond murmured back. Marin shrugged and led the way back to his room, climbing up into the loft bed. Adrien followed, very confused by the way his eyes were trained on Marin’s red-and-black underpants as he climbed the ladder. He remained confused as he flopped down on the mattress next to his friend, as he felt the urge to pull him into his arms. 

“Goodnight, Adrien,” Marin whispered as he pulled his pillow to himself with both arms. 

“G’night,” the blond mumbled back, his eyes tracing the curve of Marin’s side in the dark, his fingers itching to follow the path of his eyes.

What was going on with him?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because I'm a loser and draw art for my own fic, here's Adrien in Marin's pink shorts: http://okay-sky.tumblr.com/post/141173374606/someone-commented-on-my-fic-asking-for-art-of


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ..... *bumps rating up to Mature with shaking hands*   
>  Forgive me, father, for I have sinned.
> 
> ****Also, this chapter does contain some ORIGINS SPOILERS!****  
> Please read at your own risk if you haven't seen the origins! I have changed some things obviously, but I have sort of rewritten the scene where Marinette first transforms into Ladybug, so there are spoilers!
> 
> Also sorry/not sorry about double-updating today. I had a class get canceled and I had nothing better to do with myself than write this sinful stuff. Hope you enjoy!!

Marin fell asleep with surprising ease that night. His heart hammered in his throat at the thought that if he simply rolled over halfway, he would be pressed against Adrien from tip to toe. He buried his face in his cat pillow, trying to steady his breathing. All he could hear in the dark was Adrien’s even breath, and he tried to match his own to its even tempo. Slowly he felt his pulse slowing, and when he heard Adrien make a small noise in his sleep, he relaxed all the way. There was no way to embarrass himself if Adrien wasn’t even awake. He slowly fell into the blackness of sleep.

For the first time in a few weeks, Marin dreamed. Well, to call it a dream wouldn’t be entirely correct. It was more like a hazy swirling memory.

 

Marin was sitting in his room in his desk chair, and on the desk in front of him was a small black box with elaborate engravings on its surface. His dream-self - or remembered-self, he supposed - picked up the box and opened it to find a pair of black earrings. He was confused about how the box had made its way to his room, and even more confused as to why there were earrings inside. His ears weren’t even pierced.

His hands moving of their own accord, he brought the earrings up to his lobes - why? There was no piercing for the posts to fit into. And yet, as he touched the metal to his skin, suddenly the earrings were firmly attached to him. There was no pain, only a strange weighted sensation as the piercings pulled on his earlobes.

And then there was Tikki. Even though this was a memory, Marin’s hazy subconscious guided him through his initial panic at the creature’s appearance with ease, all the way to his first transformation.

As the pink light washed over his body, Marin felt everything about him change. A warm pressure on his body, particularly strong on his chest and hips, caused him momentary discomfort, and his mind somehow became even hazier at the sudden rush of foreign hormones in his body. When Marin looked at his reflection, a pretty young girl with his eyes and dark hair stared back at him, her lips popped open in a delicate ‘o.’ He reached out towards her, and she reached back, and he recognized her as himself.

Confusion and panic set in and Marin quickly released the transformation. Tikki shot out of his earring like a rocket, and he felt the same warm pressure pushing on every inch of his body as he was magically reshapen into his civilian appearance. He lurched to the mirror, inspecting his reflection to make sure that he had turned back to normal. He pulled up his shirt and, sure enough, his chest was flat once again. He let out a sigh of relief; there was no way he would be able to explain the sudden appearance of breasts to his family, and he wasn’t eager to go bra-shopping with his mother.

“Marin, are you okay?” Tikki questioned, rushing to his face and touching his cheek gently. Marin jolted back a little bit in shock at her sudden proximity.

“What just happened?!” he demanded, grabbing the little red kwami in both hands and holding her firmly a few feet in front of his face.

“You transformed, just like I explained you would,” Tikki replied sweetly.

“That’s not what I’m asking and you know it,” Marin bit back. “Why did my body change like that?”

“You mean why did you become more feminine?” Tikki asked. 

“No, why would that be bothering me at all?” Marin quipped back sarcastically. Tikki let out a small giggle.

“Well, I’m a ladybug kwami, not a gentleman-bug,” she tittered. Marin frowned at her.

“Okay, but why did my entire body change like that? I felt stuff happening  _ inside me _ , Tikki!”

“The ladybug has always been a girl,” Tikki replied with a shrug. “Or at least someone who identifies with the more feminine side of the gender spectrum.” 

Marin quirked an eyebrow at that. “I’m not going to deny that I have some more traditionally-feminine hobbies, but I’m pretty sure I’m a guy. I’ve never even thought about not being a guy.”

Tikki spread her little hands to her sides in a tiny shrug. “If you’ve never thought about it then you haven’t ever evaluated it for yourself, just accepted what you were assigned.”

Marin regarded the tiny kwami in his hands for a moment, and then released his death-grip on her torso. She was right, of course; he knew from enough discussing with Alya about the various aspects of the LGBT sub-categories, but had never really thought about the gender side of it all. They’d only talked in-depth about the sexuality and romantic spectrums in helping Marin determine that he was more than likely gay, and probably demisexual (although he wasn’t for sure, as he hadn’t ever been in a real relationship yet). 

“Well, I don’t really want to just jump into saying that I’m  _ not _ cis,” Marin said hesitantly, “but I’ve never really thought about it much so it’s… possible, I guess, that I’m not.”

“You don’t have to worry about it too much, Marin,” Tikki assured him with a gentle nuzzle into his cheek. “You’re still you no matter what your body looks like. But right now we don’t have time to worry about this, we have an akuma to defeat!”

Marin gasped in shock, his hands flying up to cover his mouth as he recalled the rock-man problem that Paris was currently dealing with. He could handle his new gender issue at another time.

 

Marin awoke suddenly in his bed as he was rolled over. His hands came up to touch what had moved him, and found his fingers nervously running over Adrien’s warm forearm. A small gasp escaped his lips which he quickly clamped down on, afraid to wake his slumbering friend. The blond mumbled something in his sleep and pulled him closer, rolling onto his side and tugging Marin to his chest. Marin’s face was blazing against Adrien’s bare chest, and their legs brushed under the covers. Hesitantly, Marin dislodged his arm from where it was trapped between their stomachs and brought it gently over Adrien’s waist. Adrien made another little noise and buried his face in Marin’s hair, his legs nudging Marin’s apart until their limbs were thoroughly tangled in the sheets. 

Marin let out a sharp hiss as the sudden entanglement of their legs brought other body parts touching, and Adrien stirred from his slumber. “Marin?” he murmured into the smaller boy’s hair, tightening his arms around Marin’s torso. Marin didn’t respond, hoping that if Adrien didn’t realize he was awake he would just go back to sleep.

Adrien tightened all of his muscles in a cat-like stretch, drawing Marin tight to him and flexing his legs under the covers. The motion brought their hips crashing together even more so than before, and Adrien buried a soft groan in Marin’s hair at the friction. Marin’s teeth sank into his bottom lip as he fought to contain a similar reaction. Before Adrien could do anything else in his sleep-addled state, Marin placed his hands on Adrien’s chest and pushed himself away from the boy. The action seemed to bring Adrien into a more wakeful state, and he blinked up at Marin as the small boy sat up, eyes glimmering in the darkness. His eyes trailed down from Marin’s face, several shades darker than normal from his wild blush, half-lidded eyes skimming appreciatively down Marin’s well-muscled stomach and then settling in his lap. His eyes snapped wide open at the way that the sheet tented over Marin’s groin, his face turning just as dark as the seated boy’s. He could tell from the tightness of his boxer-briefs that he wasn’t faring any better.

Adrien sat straight upright, eyes avoiding Marin’s as he maneuvered his way down the ladder. Marin watched him go in confusion, whispering, “Where are you going?” into the darkness. Adrien plopped down on the chaise, laughing lightly into his hand.

“I’m sorry, Marin,” he whispered back. “I should probably sleep over here tonight.”

Marin nodded slowly, a lump forming in his throat as he settled back down in his bed.

“Goodnight, Adrien,” he whispered after a moment. 

“G’night, Marin,” Adrien mumbled back from behind his palm.

Neither was able to go back to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> **Small mature-warning for this chapter, implied masturbation ahead**
> 
> [ I drew something for you guys from chapter 6, so in case you don't check the comments (why would you, there's way too many tf) here's Adrien in Marin's pink shorts: http://okay-sky.tumblr.com/post/141173374606/someone-commented-on-my-fic-asking-for-art-of ]
> 
> Wow, thank you guys so much for all the support from the last chapter! We hit some amazing milestones since the last update: 100 comments, 200 kudos, and 2000 hits! As a thank-you offering, this chapter is 2-3 times longer than normal. I really hope you guys enjoy it, and get prepared for this ship to start taking off!

In the morning, once Marin could hear the sounds of the bakery drifting up from the ground floor, he forced himself upright in his bed. His eyelids felt heavy from lack of sleep and his temples ached in a way that begged for caffeine. His shoulders were stiff from the way he had curled in on himself anxiously in the hours since the Accidental Grinding Incident. Other things were stiff, too, for much the same reason.

Marin glanced over nervously at the chaise, where Adrien lay on his side with his face towards the window. He studied the blond carefully, trying to deduce from the peaceful way that his shoulders were rising and falling if the model were asleep or not. His palm ground absently against his morning wood, the other pushing his bangs off his face in irritation. The erection was beginning to become painful, but he couldn’t exactly solve his problem with Adrien in the room. One too-loud moan and the blond would wake up and catch him in the act; and what if he thought that Marin was jerking off while watching him sleep, and thought he was a freak? Wasn’t gonna happen.

Quietly, taking extra care not to jostle the ladder and make any unnecessary noise, Marin descended from his loft and inched to the trap door. He opened it slowly, wincing when it creaked lightly. His eyes snapped to Adrien, who made no move except to take one deep breath and tense his back muscles before settling comfortably back onto the chaise. Marin breathed a sigh of relief and descended to the living room floor to take care of his problem in the bathroom.

Adrien breathed a sigh of relief as well once Marin had left the room, sitting upright on the chaise. He felt guilty for pretending to sleep, but Marin hadn’t seemed aware that Adrien could see his reflection in the window. He didn’t want to make the perpetually-embarrassed boy any worse off by admitting that he had been watching him palm his hard-on through his underwear. Or that his eyes had been completely focused on the action to the degree that he was pitching a tent of his own. Putting his trust in his enhanced hearing to alert him to the return of the half-Chinese boy, Adrien hastily took care of his own throbbing problem. 

When Marin had finally finished up in the bathroom, panting and stuffing himself back into his underwear, he washed his hands and then dunked his head under the cold water, hissing at the way that it sent icy fingers shooting into his skull. He shut the water off and straightened, squinting at his reflection and pushing his dripping bangs up and off his forehead. He blinked at the slight boy that looked back at him in the glass. 

As had become his morning routine, he took a moment to reflect on his mental state and determine exactly which gender identity he would be assuming that day. Although the default was normally male (or at least gender-neutral with a slight preference for male pronouns), it wasn’t uncommon for Marin to decide that he was feeling particularly feminine on a particular day, with or without his Miraculous-induced physical transformation. Since his long-ago discussion with Tikki about reflecting on his identity instead of just accepting what he had been assigned, Marin had come to embrace the concept that just as easily as his body changed with his transformation, his gender identity could change too.

That being said, today was going to be a boy day. Marin toweled his hair off quickly, not really caring how it dried since it would always flop neatly back into place, and hurried back to his room.

Peeking over the lip of the trap door, Marin was surprised to see Adrien lounging awake on the chaise with his jeans pulled on (although they were still unbuttoned and unzipped, he noticed with a small blush). The blond looked up from his phone and smiled, sitting upright and abandoning the device at his side.

“Good morning,” Adrien greeted him in a low voice that was a little husky from being quiet for so many hours. Marin’s cheeks darkened at the tone and he squeaked back, “Um, morning!”

“I’m not sure how late I’m welcome,” Adrien said as Marin hurried up the last few steps, “but I figured I’d tell you now that Nathalie has ordered me home before 1.” Marin stepped into a pair of red joggers, nodding slowly at that information.

“My parents probably won’t mind you staying that late,” Marin assured him, keeping his eyes carefully trained away from the blond. Although they had grown close enough yesterday that he had been able to mostly overcome his flustered nature around his crush, the events that had transpired in the middle of the night were fresh in his mind and he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to act around Adrien now.

“Are you sure?” Adrien asked, rising from the chaise. “I don’t want to overstay my welcome.”

“Trust me, they probably wouldn’t mind if you stayed for dinner if you didn’t have such an early curfew,” Marin reassured him.

“We wouldn’t mind if you stayed forever,” Sabine added, her head poking through the trap door. Both boys jumped in surprise at her sudden appearance, and she quickly calmed them by sliding a tray of freshly baked pastries onto the floor.

“I heard the pipes running so I figured you boys were up and hungry,” she explained sweetly. “And Adrien, dear, don’t worry about intruding. We’ve heard enough about you from Marin that you’re practically a second child to us.” She gave them one last parting smile before closing the trap door over her head.

Adrien raised a quizzical eyebrow at Marin, who was studiously avoiding his gaze as he busied himself with transferring the pastries to his desk. They had hardly interacted outside of class since Adrien had first transferred into public school; he had sort of assumed that the half-Chinese boy was still put-off by his awkward first-day impression, given his fidgety nature around the model.

“Well, um, did you want to practice some more before you have to leave?” Marin suggested from the desk, his back to Adrien. In answer, the model dragged the chaise over to the same position from the day before. He sat down on the cushion and placed his hand on Marin’s shoulder to pull the dark-haired boy down beside him with a shrill squeak of surprise.

“Let’s get this game started!” Adrien exclaimed, wrapping his arm around Marin’s shoulders and picking up a still-warm croissant with his free hand. He glanced at Marin out of the corner of his eye, curiously studying the way that Marin’s cheeks quickly became tinged in pink and the corners of his mouth quirked up almost unbidden into a grin. That was a positive reaction to him, right? After all their progress towards becoming friends the day before, he hadn’t ruined it with his semi-conscious sexual harassment, right?

The way that Marin seemed to lean into him as the game started up reassured Adrien that any bridges they had built the day before had remained intact and unburned. He smiled to himself as he picked up his controller, resolving to keep his arm around Marin’s shoulders, even if it made his play style a bit more awkward than he would normally have liked. The warmth of Marin’s back radiating into his chest was a comfort that he hadn’t known he’d needed.

The boys played Ultimate Mecha Strike III until half past noon, slowly relaxing into the same spooning position they had found themselves in the day before: Adrien stretched out on his side, Marin tucked beneath his chin and within the circle of his arms. The fact that they were both shirtless made it a little different, as both were a bit distracted by the heat of the other. The elephant in the room also seemed to weigh on both of them, as Adrien could feel Marin’s heart thumping loudly against his chest, and he was sure his heart was beating back at an equally alarming rate. For their sanity, neither brought up the events of the night, and when Adrien got up to get dressed and gather his things, it still remained undiscussed.

“Thank you again for all your hospitality,” Adrien thanked Sabine and Tom as he prepared to step out of the bakery. Sabine opened her arms and made for him, and Adrien couldn’t help but grin as the tiny Chinese woman managed to completely envelope him in the warmest hug he’d ever received from an adult. Tom reached out to put a hand on his shoulder and smiled reassuringly at the boy.

“It was lovely to meet you,” Sabine told him, leaning into Tom’s side. “You’re always welcome in our home, Adrien.”

“Come on over whenever you have some free time,” Tom added. “Our boy could use a great friend like you.” Adrien’s eyes darted to Marin, who was blushing behind his parents. Adrien smiled at him and offered a wink that seemed to short-circuit the dark-haired boy. Adrien’s heart dropped; had that been overkill? But he was quickly relieved when Marin managed to smile at him, waving and calling goodbye as Adrien stepped out the front door and into the car waiting at the curb.

Marin let out a large sigh of relief as the car pulled away. As much as he had been completely ecstatic to spend so much one-on-one time with the boy of his dreams, he was completely exhausted from attempting to keep his foot out of his mouth and his tongue off the floor. It had been a very elaborate dance and he was glad he could go back to being his clumsy self for the time being. He pressed a kiss to each of his parents’ cheeks before climbing the stairs back to his room to re-hang all of his magazine cutouts of Adrien.

* * *

Shortly after sunset, Ladybug pushed open the hatch that lead to his balcony roof. He and Chat Noir had agreed months ago to go on patrol every other night, so they were due for another. He sucked in a deep breath to steady any nerves that had remained even after transforming into his more confident alter-ego before setting out across the rooftops to meet his partner at their customary spot on the Eiffel Tower.

Normally Ladybug was the punctual one, but as his yoyo pulled him across the plaza and into the struts of the tower, he saw the outlined figure of Chat sitting just below the viewing deck. His heart leapt in his chest at the memory of the last time they had met for patrol: Chat pinning him to the roof, his face ducking closer to Ladybug’s, the desire clear in his eyes… After his tumultuous sleepover with Adrien, Ladybug wasn’t sure his heart could handle another emotionally-wrought encounter.

Ladybug lighted down carefully behind Chat Noir and gingerly approached him. The black-clad teen’s cat ears twitched at the sound of his arrival, but his head didn’t turn to look at his partner. 

“I’m sorry about the other night,” Chat Noir said softly into the night as Ladybug stepped lightly onto the strut where he sat. The red-suited boy paused, surprised that his flirtatious partner had even recognized his mistake, much less had decided to apologize for it.

“... It’s fine, Chat,” Ladybug replied quietly, sitting down beside his partner.

“I know you aren’t interested in me,” Chat Noir rambled. “I mean, you’ve made it pretty clear that you don’t have any feelings for me, and it was really wrong of me to push myself on you; I just got caught up in the moment and you were so close and I-”

“Chat, please,” Ladybug murmured, placing his hand on Chat Noir’s shoulder. He glanced over at his feminine partner, his wide green eyes nervous. Ladybug smiled back reassuringly. “I know you didn’t mean any harm. People just get carried away sometimes. No harm done.” Chat’s eyes still looked worried, so Ladybug pressed a quick kiss to his forehead and added, “Apology accepted.”

Chat Noir sighed in relief, his head falling to Ladybug’s shoulder. The smaller boy stroked his partner’s hair gently.

“I was worried I’d really screwed things up with you too,” Chat mumbled into Ladybug’s suit. The pigtailed boy’s hand stopped its ministrations in his feline companion’s hair, and after a moment he questioned, “‘Too’? What do you mean, Chat?” The leather-clad hero let out a startled chuckle at his own slip-up.

“Oh, um, it’s nothing, really,” he murmured. “I have a friend that I think I may have… I don’t know, messed up our friendship or something. On accident. I was afraid I’d ruined  _ our _ friendship with… Well, with what I did on Thursday night.”

“If what happened with your friend was anything like Thursday night, I’m sure you have nothing to worry about,” Ladybug assured his partner. 

“Ah, um, well, about that,” Chat Noir laughed nervously, “it may have actually been a bit worse than Thursday night.” Ladybug pulled away from Chat, dislodging him from his shoulder, a look of horror crossing his face. 

“Don’t tell me that you actually did something to a friend against their will,” Ladybug whispered. Chat Noir’s eyes flew to his partners, distress on his features.

“No, it’s not like that!” he insisted, and then his pupils contracted as he realized that maybe it was like that. He bit his bottom lip, his jaw trembling as the implications of Ladybug’s statement burned into him. Had he forced Marin into something? The boy hadn’t seemed to hate him afterwards; he had just seemed surprised and embarrassed, not like he had just been forced into something against his will.

Ladybug carefully regarded his partner, watching the way that tears started to well in his green eyes and his teeth worried at his bottom lip. He knew Chat Noir better than anyone, and even if he was a flirtatious ass, Ladybug didn’t believe that he was the kind of guy that would force others into risque situations against their will.

“I’m sorry, Chat,” Ladybug sighed, pulling his partner into a one-armed hug. “I’m sure that isn’t what happened. I know you aren’t a bad guy, even if your puns suck.”

“Hey,” Chat bit back, “I’ll have you know my puns are paw-sitively purr-fect.” Ladybug ruffled his hair soothingly, ignoring the double-whammy.

“I’m sure everything’s fine between you and her,” Ladybug assured him with a pat on the back, assuming that would be the end of the conversation and the beginning of their patrol. He hadn’t expected Chat Noir to stiffen beside him, his cheeks tinging pink. Ladybug raised an eyebrow at him curiously and said, “What did I say wrong?”

“Um, well, the thing is,” Chat hedged, his face practically glowing red from beneath his mask, “the friend that I was talking about is… a guy. I-I think I might be bisexual.”

Chat Noir jumped when that drew a sharp laugh from Ladybug.

“Hey, what’s so funny?” Chat snapped, wishing he hadn’t said anything. “I didn’t expect you to be a homophobe. Biphobe. Whatever.”

“That’s not it,” Ladybug giggled. “I just didn’t expect you of all people to be LGBT too.”

“What?” Chat Noir gasped. “My Lady, are you saying… So the reason you’ve been ignoring my advances…”

“I’m not a lesbian,” Ladybug assured him with a giggle.  _ Far from it _ , he thought. “I’m pretty much exclusively interested in guys.”

“Then wha-” Chat began.

“I’m genderfluid,” Ladybug said simply. 

The pair sat in silence, Ladybug allowing his partner to digest that information, nervously awaiting the questions that were sure to come.

“So what exactly does that mean?” Chat asked after a few minutes.

“Sometimes I’m a boy and sometimes I’m a girl,” Ladybug replied. Both in gender identity and in physical form, though he wasn’t quite ready to indulge his partner in that information just yet. “And sometimes I’m neither, or I’m something in between.”

Chat Noir was quiet for a few more minutes, and Ladybug let him mull over his thoughts though secretly his heart was hammering in his chest. His fears of no longer being loved by Chat, whether he chose to reciprocate those feelings or not, based on his gender identity was at the forefront of his mind. Although he had come to terms with being genderfluid himself, he would be lying if he said he didn’t worry that it made him too different, weird, unloveable. 

“What are you right now?” Chat asked quietly, breaking Ladybug out of his frantic thoughts.

“Today I’m a boy,” Ladybug replied quietly. His blue eyes slid up to meet Chat’s green ones, trying to keep the fear out of them even as he tried to read Chat’s emotions through his expressive eyes. They were completely unreadable.

After a moment, Chat slid one clawed hand into Ladybug’s gloved one and gently ran his thumb across the knuckles, eyes still locked on Ladybug’s. The corner of his mouth quirked up into a familiar half smile.

“That settles it then,” the blond said simply. Ladybug frowned at him.

“Settles what?” he questioned. Chat’s half smile turned into his full-on trademark flirtatious smirk as he ducked his face closer to Ladybug’s until the tips of their noses skimmed across each other.

“I guess I really am bisexual then,” he purred, his lips ghosting over his partner’s. Ladybug’s heart hammered in his chest, wanting to burst out in joy that  _ Chat still liked him, still wanted him, even if he wasn’t always a girl _ . But even as he was elated that his partner could still love him with his insecurities about himself, he wasn’t quite sure that was reason enough to let himself get swept away. His mind twitched to Adrien; what if they had a chance together? From the blond’s overly-friendly behavior during their sleepover and his drowsy dry-humping, was he allowed to think that maybe that was a sign that Adrien was also bisexual? And if Chat Noir could accept him even if he was different, couldn’t Adrien maybe, too?

Ladybug firmly placed his free hand on Chat Noir’s chest, pushing him a few inches away. The tomcat smiled wistfully at the space between them but didn’t seem surprised.

“Down, boy,” Ladybug teased.

“I’m a cat, not a dog,” Chat scoffed. “I don’t do commands.”

“I don’t know,” Ladybug replied smoothly, “you seem pretty good at taking orders in a fight.”

“Only your wishes are my command,” he purred back, to which Ladybug tapped his bell, holding back giggles.

“In that case, I would like us to start patrol now,” Ladybug suggested. Chat Noir sighed but rose to his feet anyways.

“And here I thought we were going to spend some time getting to know each other better,” he muttered under his breath as Ladybug zipped away on his yoyo. With a melancholy ghost of a smile he leaped after his partner into the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to apologize right now for my shitty references haha. In case you were wondering if maybe something was a reference, 1) with Sabine being Chinese, I had to quote Mulan. I think Sabine & Tom's support of Marinette's relationship is really similar to Mulan's grandma's so I really wanted to fit that in there lol; 2) Chat quoted Le Marionette in the closing lines, although that was probably only noticeable if you watch the Miraculousubs French subs version of the episode. That line always seems way too kinky for a kid's show imo
> 
> I don't know if I've said this yet, but I really appreciate all of you guys' comments on this fic. And you guys are more than welcome to critique my work if you feel the urge; it's entirely un-beta'd, and I haven't really written much fiction in quite a few years, so go ahead and hit me with them (as long as you aren't being an ass about it because I am a wee li'l bit fragile with criticism).
> 
> See you guys in the next chapter! <3


End file.
